The Oakland A’s unexpected and tremendously exciting 2013 season was barely over when general manager Billy Beane made a deal to improve an already outstanding outfield.

In other words, there is no slowing down for Oakland. Beane traded infielder Cliff Pennington for 2010 All-Star Chris Young in October, acquiring a fourth everyday outfielder.

How will that work? Well, Beane insists there will be 450 to 500 at-bats for Young, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes, which means more DH appearances from all of them—and potentially fresher outfielders at the end of the season. Reddick and Cespedes ran out of steam down the stretch last season, and Crisp and Cespedes both missed time with injuries.

The A’s also have plenty of starting pitching, enough that they let 2012 opening day starter Brandon McCarthy leave as a free agent. Oakland boasts slick lefthander Brett Anderson, potential star righthander Jarrod Parker and three other solid young starters: lefty Tommy Milone and righthanders A.J. Griffin and Dan Straily. Add to that re-signed veteran Bartolo Colon—who must sit out the first five games of the season while serving the remainder of his drug suspension—and the A’s are set with starters and then some.

The A’s bullpen is one of the league’s best, with Grant Balfour reclaiming the closer role in August and becoming a real factor in the team’s rush to the AL West title. Setup men Ryan Cook (converted starter) and Sean Doolittle (converted first baseman) were great stories. Jerry Blevins is an effective lefthanded specialist who can handle other bullpen roles, and Jordan Norberto showed flashes of excellence when healthy.

With an overloaded outfield (don’t forget Seth Smith) and strong pitching, the A’s biggest questions will be in the infield. Jemile Weeks could win back his second-base job, but Scott Sizemore, who has fully recovered from knee surgery, is a solid option at second unless he is shifted back to third. Adam Rosales also is in the second-base mix.

Josh Donaldson finished the season strong at third base, but the converted catcher struggled offensively in the first two months of the season and was demoted until Brandon Inge needed shoulder surgery in August. Inge is gone, but newcomer Jed Lowrie is a strong hot-corner candidate.

Shortstop Stephen Drew is gone, replaced by 30-year-old Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who signed a two-year deal during the offseason.

Oakland got unexpected production from the first-base platoon of Chris Carter (16 homers) and Brandon Moss (21 homers), but Carter was traded to the Houston Astros in the deal for Lowrie. Catcher Derek Norris showed promise in his rookie season but will assume a backup role to another new acquisition, John Jaso.

The team lost 18 homers and significant leadership when DH Jonny Gomes signed with Boston as a free agent. But the A’s still have plenty of power. They got 32 homers from Reddick, who also won a Gold Glove for his outstanding play in right field. Cespedes showed superstar potential, hitting .292 with 23 homers and 82 RBIs in 129 games.

Between the outfield and the pitching staff, Oakland has plenty of talent, meaning the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels again will have to watch out for the A’s.

3 REASONS TO BELIEVE

Mr. Dependable: Josh Reddick. Scanning this roster, it isn’t easy to select the team’s best player. The A’s are loaded with young and relatively inexperienced position players and pitchers, or guys who had career years in 2012 en route to the team’s division title. But Reddick is a strong candidate. The 26-year-old right fielder is coming off a 32-homer season, but must raise his .242/.305/.463 slash line to truly become the man in Oakland.

X-factor: Yoenis Cespedes. He finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and that was only because Mike Trout is a once-in-a-generation kind of player. Cespedes, a Cuban defector, was as good as advertised last season, hitting 23 homers and producing a 137 OPS-plus. If he can duplicate (or even top) that effort, he will make the hitters in front of and behind him even more productive.

On Deck: A.J. Griffin. Pitching carried the A’s last season, and that might not change. With the loss of McCarthy, Griffin could be the surprise of the rotation. Griffin, 25, should spend the full season in the majors after going 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 starts for Oakland in 2012.

TEAM SNAPSHOT

OFFENSE: Oakland upped its home runs total from 114 in 2011 to 195 in 2012. Although Gomes (18 homers) departed, Cespedes should get even better.

DEFENSE: Last season, the A’s were near the top of the league in defensive efficiency, but their 111 errors were third highest in the AL. Reddick became the first A’s outfielder to win a Gold Glove since 1985.

ROTATION: Despite trading Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill after the 2011 season, A’s starters posted a 3.80 ERA (third-best in the league), and walked the fewest batters. Rookies started 101 games, so they all have experience now.

BULLPEN: Oakland used three closers, but the team’s 2.94 bullpen ERA was second-lowest in the league. And opponents hit just .209 against A’s relievers. All the primary pieces of that bullpen return.

BENCH: Manager Bob Melvin made platoons work at catcher, first base, second, shortstop, third and at DH during the 2012 season. There is even more depth this season.

SCOUT’S VIEW

A major league scout analyzes LF Yoenis Cespedes:

“People didn’t know what to expect (because he had never played outside of Cuba before last season), but the first time you see him, you realize he’s going to make something happen. You don’t go to the concession stand when he’s coming up. He has the best bat speed in the league, and there isn’t an easy way to pitch him because sometimes you have to put the ball over the plate. He walked enough to show he knows the strike zone. He runs the bases well. What really surprised me was his ability to hit—he’s not all-or-nothing. He can make adjustments, hit for average, and that’s not having ever played in the minor leagues.”

KEY STAT

Last season, Oakland got 54 wins by rookie pitchers, a key reason it won the division. The A’s claimed the AL West on the final day of the season, winning the final six games to do so. They had an all-rookie rotation the final two weeks.

2013 OUTLOOK

What could go right: The A’s won 94 games in 2012. Their young pitching should only improve—and so should Cespedes, after his first year playing in the United States.

What could go wrong: Melvin made as many as five platoons at a time work last season. Timeshares will be plentiful again this season, and the A’s will be in trouble if a couple of them go south.

Bottom line: Oakland arrived at least a year ahead of schedule after rebuilding with pitching obtained in trades, and now a talented young team has experienced success. That bodes well for the future, but repeating in the tough AL West will be a tall task.